You like Russ Ballard (even if you don’t know it).

You like Russ Ballard (even if you don’t know it).

Russ Ballard may not be a household name, but he should be. After all, nearly everybody has heard his songs. ” What songs” , you ask? Well there is his 1984 song “Voices” which was featured on an episode of Miami Vice for starters.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. After joining a couple of lesser known bands, the Englishman joined Argent, where he was heard singing their hit “Hold your Head High”. He soon left and began writing songs and releasing his own solo records. The amount of hit songs Russ wrote is staggering. The fact that he isn’t a superstar is because they usually became hits when covered by other artists. Here are a few examples of Ballard’s songs as sung by others:

“God gave Rock and Roll to You”-KISS

“I know there’s something going on”-Frida

“Winning”-Santana

“Since You’ve been Gone”- Rainbow

“You can do Magic”-America

These are just some of the more obvious examples. Russ Ballard has had an extraordinary career as a songwriter. He is one of the many under praised musicians that have generated so much, yet so few realize its all the work of one man.